Music
by ProfessionalCatFan
Summary: "For the next few hours the two of them sat against the wall, side by side, listening to the music and talking together." Post-SDR2, slight Komahina.


_This was a drabble I wrote for a friend from a prompt, except this ended up being a bit longer than a typical drabble and in the end didn't have much to do with the prompt, which was "_The urge to overcome melancholy by dancing." _Still, I sort of liked how this turned out, even if I had no idea what I was doing in some parts, so I thought it'd be nice to upload it here. I hope everyone enjoys this at least a little bit. :)_

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A supply ship was sent to Jabberwock Island every month or so, courtesy of their few friends in the Future Foundation. It would drop off crates filled with what anyone would need to survive when secluded from society: non-perishable foods, clothes, toiletries, medical supplies, etc. Each boat was accompanied by trained guards, guns at the ready as they glared at the Remnants of Despair in case one of them tried to stow away and escape.

Hinata couldn't bring himself to feel too offended by this added precaution. Naegi had earnestly insisted he trusted each and every one of ex-members of Despair, but the same couldn't be said for the rest of the Future Foundation. Agreeing to have the ship well protected was probably the only way he could get supplies sent to them at all.

Still, having such cautious eyes trained on him in particular felt more than a little unnerving—Hinata was almost certain he saw, after apparently stepping forward too quickly, the guards' hands twitching towards their guns.

Simply dropping off the crates seemed to be the extent of the ship's duties. Actually taking the boxes to the storage room was left to Hinata, Souda and Owari, where they would open them and see what had been delivered this time. Besides some grumbling from Souda, each crate was half carried, half dragged to storage without incident.

There were about seven crates in total this time; Owari tore open the ones containing food while Hinata and Souda worked on prising open the rest.

"It's all this stupid canned stuff again." Owari groaned, staring at a can of soup as if it had betrayed her somehow. "When are they gonna send us some _real _food?"

"Hanamura's managed to make that stuff taste nice so far," Souda said, holding up a slightly too small shirt. "What about me? I've been itching to dissemble something new for _months _but they never send any machines or engines or anything."

After some more rummaging through the opened boxes, Owari and Souda decided to start taking the food up to the kitchen. Hinata stayed behind. There were two unopened crates left, and while they probably didn't have anything inside different than usual he wanted to check. His friends left the room with armfuls of cans as he turned from the door towards the boxes.

The first crate contained some medicine bottles, mostly pain killers, and some extra bandages and first-aid kits (_Tsumiki will be happy_, Hinata thought with a nod). The second had what Hinata nearly brushed off as just more canned food—there was a glint of silver easy to miss in the dim lighting, and Hinata pushed the cans away with a curious frown.

"Huh?"

At the very bottom of the crate, hidden by the cans of food, was a row of at least ten CDs and a small CD player. It must have been an extra present from Naegi. Hinata shook his head, happy but also surprised Naegi had considered this in the first place as he inspected the CDs.

Most of the CDs were just popular bands and chart music from before the Incident, along with a few old singers Hinata had never heard of. But he couldn't be too picky about the selection. It had been a while since he heard proper music, with the island holding no instruments for Ibuki to play, and these sorts of songs could keep everyone's spirits up.

There was a plug socket in a dusty corner of the room, and Hinata's gaze drifted towards it slowly. He might as well see if the CDs worked. It wouldn't be good to get everyone excited only for it to turn out all the CDs were broken or scratched beyond repair.

He carried the CD player over to the wall and set it down to plug it in. It turned on after a few buttons were pressed—a good sign. Hinata smiled and put the first disc he could find in the CD player.

Hinata sat on the floor thoughtfully as music blared. The CD player was obviously working fine, and it seemed, thankfully, the CD was in good condition. He could only hope that was true for the rest of them.

He started tapping his foot to the rhythm of the music. An odd sense of joy bubbled in his mind, a welcome feeling. The song was catchy enough that a more carefree part of Hinata considered jumping up and dancing, at least while no one was around. The sane part of him quickly pushed that urge away with an amused shake of his head.

There was a shuffle, a quiet noise that could easily be missed or mistaken as a part of the music—but Hinata tensed because he could identify that sound as footsteps, which meant someone was at the door behind him and trying to hide that fact. It definitely wasn't Souda or Owari. They wouldn't have felt the need to linger there, would have walked right in and asked him about the music. This was someone else.

And Hinata couldn't help but let his mind cool, his gaze turning cold. Recovering from _her _influence after everything that had happened was difficult, and while the occasions were growing rarer relapses did happen. At best they would simply withdraw into themselves for a while, at worst they would try to kill. If this was someone who had reverted they could be planning to attack him. It wouldn't be the first time.

He stood slowly, turned, considering ideas of what to do if that really was the case_ (it might be nothing—and if it's not?). _So far they had lived on the island all together without serious incident and he didn't plan to change that now. He purposely ignored anything that came to mind that went beyond disarming, because Despair or not these people were his friends, because he knew himself just how difficult the relapses were, because he would not go through _that _again, no—

"Who's there?" he called to whoever was listening, and waited.

Seconds ticked by, then there was another shuffle of footsteps and Komaeda appeared in the doorway, dressed in his hospital gown and looking at Hinata carefully.

Hinata relaxed slightly. Here was no obvious weapon in Komaeda's only hand, nor did he seem ready to attack at any moment. He was simply watching, his expression curious instead of the apathetic one he'd worn lately.

"Komaeda," Hinata said, sighing, though he wasn't sure if it was out of relief or exasperation. "Shouldn't you be at the hospital? You know Tsumiki won't be very happy with you."

Out of all of the comatose ex-members of Despair, Komaeda was the worst off in terms of physical health. Everyone else was up on their feet and exploring the island after weeks or months of bed rest—but Komaeda, despite being the very first to wake up, was still mostly confined to his hospital bed. Not of his free will, of course. It wasn't uncommon to find him wandering the island after sneaking away.

Komaeda didn't answer at first. He glanced over the opened crates, not moving from his place at the door.

"What did they send this time?" he asked finally, ignoring Hinata's question.

"Just the usual," Hinata said and Komaeda nodded as if this was the answer he had expected, though now his eyes were on the CD player, questioning.

"Oh." Hinata had completely forgotten about the CD Player, an odd fact considering it was still playing music. "Besides that. I think it's from Naegi: I found it in one of the crates with some CDs."

At the mention of Naegi's name Komaeda's eyes lit up with interest. Hinata gestured for him to take a look, and after a slight hesitation Komaeda stepped into the room.

Seconds later, Komaeda was looking through the CDs as Hinata had a moment ago, and Hinata was sitting on the floor again, this time facing the door.

Komaeda sighed suddenly, putting the CDs back in their crate. "It really isn't much, is it. That's a shame. Still, it was thoughtful of Naegi-kun to give _us _something like this. As expected of the Super High School Level Hope!"

There was an odd tone to the way he said 'us,' a contrast to his smiling face, most likely referring to the Remnants of Despair as a whole. Komaeda hadn't tried to hide the his view that Hope shouldn't waste kindness on Despair.

Harsh that might sound, but it wasn't the worst thing Komaeda had said since waking up. Komaeda was bitter for the first few months, and the words that fell from his mouth were no different. Remembering what had actually happened in the simulation only seemed to make things worse.

But he was friendlier now if withdrawn at times. He responded to conversation attempts instead of just staying silent, initiating a few of his own more often. It was a relief to Hinata, honestly. The changes, while slow, were positive, especially considering his initial state. Many had argued Komaeda was a lost cause, but now there were definite signs of recovery in his everyday actions.

Hinata decided to ignore Komaeda's comment, because Komaeda was stubborn when it came to Hope and Hinata wasn't in the mood to start up _that _argument again. Instead he carefully said, "Hey, Komaeda, you really should go back to the hospital."

The smile on Komaeda's face lessened. He looked at Hinata. "Why?" he asked coolly. "In the end, it doesn't matter whether I'm out here or in there."

"It _does_." Hinata sighed. It was growing increasingly likely to find Komaeda knelt somewhere when he left the hospital, too exhausted to make his way back on his own. It was a worrying tendency that Komaeda didn't even seem to care about. "The only reason you're able to walk around like this at all is because you've been under Tsumiki's care and resting at the hospital, but you won't recover properly if you keep pushing yourself like this. Do you really want all of this to be for nothing?"

Komaeda didn't answer, and it occured to Hinata that maybe he really didn't care either way.

"Come on," Hinata said, supporting himself on a nearby crate to stand up. "I'm not leaving you until I know you're somewhere safe, Komaeda." He went towards him, and Komaeda smiled humourlessly.

"And what are you going to do if I don't go willingly?"

There was a challenge in those words, one that Hinata refused to jump into. They both knew very well that Hinata could easily drag him back to the hospital, and it seemed Komaeda was expecting him to use that advantage. But he wouldn't. The last thing Hinata needed was for Komaeda to resent him over something like this.

So he reached around him—Komaeda tensed—and grabbed two CDs from the crate.

"How about this?" Hinata held up the CDs. "I was planning to listen to the rest of these to make sure they're all working. Stay here and listen to them with me. That'll give you plenty of time outside the hospital. But when we're done you have to go back, okay?"

Komaeda blinked at him, glancing from the CDs to Hinata's warm expression. He obviously hadn't expected an offer like this, and he seemed unsure of what to say.

Then he nodded.

For the next few hours the two of them sat against the wall, side by side, listening to the music and talking together.


End file.
